Electrifying Body Paintings Viewed Under Black Light

Note: Contains nudity.

These bright-colored visuals could have been projection mappings on bodies, but that would be too simple a task for photographer John Poppleton. Instead, he uses UV paints to illustrate auroras, nebulae, and Californian dreamin’ sunsets on various female models. His work is striking for its cosmic color palette and high-contrast images which magically come to life under black light. “The fourth dimension of photographic lighting,” as he calls it. “[…] an invisible light source that is turning your subject into the actual light source.” [1]

Adriana is the Webby-winning designer and editor-in-chief of Scene360 magazine. She's created successful projects over the course of 20 years in the fields of art, design, fashion and web. Currently dividing her time between Lisbon and San Francisco. Follow the author @Instagram Facebook and view more articles.